Friendship

Friendship is one of the major and dominant themes in Catherine Ryan Hyde's novel "Don't Let Me Go". Friendship involves mutual feelings of platonic love, compassion, concern, and loyalty, emotional and physical support and encouragement, for one or more people based on simple affinity or a cause for unity. In the novel, Grace serves to be the progenitor of such friendship.

When the novel begins, the tenants of the apartment building are all passing acquaintances. They say hello, but go about their own lives. They seemingly have nothing in common until Grace is discovered on Billy's porch. Grace becomes the something they all have in common, as they all endeavor to support, protect, care for, and help Grace in her struggle against her mother's drug addiction. Grace organizes weekly meetings, gets the tenants to talk to one another about themselves, and to work together. The friendship...